I'm Your Vocaloid!
by The Queen of Double Standards
Summary: When Neru gave away her voice the Vocaloid program, she never expected to be responsible for nurturing the robot her voice was given to. Still, this "Rin" character is so sweet and adorable, Neru can't help but start falling for her. NeruxRin yuri oneshot


**Author's Note: For OtakuGirl347 :)**

I'm Your Vocaloid!

After a working from opening to closing at the cosplay café where she worked as a humiliating cat-eared waitress, Neru was not in a good mood. She was only supposed to have opening today and then she'd have the rest of the day off to finish her school work, which she was actually excited about because she was creating a web site for a cell phone company she'd invented, but a whole bunch of obnoxious people decided _not_ to show up for work, resulting in the manager begging Neru to stay and work their shifts. And was it worth it? _No_. Why? Because Neru wouldn't even _get_ to keep the money from today's work because her bratty little cousin who she'd been meant to be babysitting had ratted her out for sneaking out to go to a party a few nights ago, leaving him alone in the house. She didn't see what the big deal was. The kid was too old for a babysitter, anyway. He was twelve-years-old, for God's sake. She was sure he'd only requested to be babysat so that he could go through her drawers like the little perv he was.

_Anyway,_ Neru was already having an awful day, but, of course, somebody upstairs just _had_ to laugh at her and see how awful they could make things for her. So, now, at midnight, when Neru finally left the cosplay café, it was pouring rain. It had been crystal clear in the morning when her shift was meant to end, and she had never bothered to check the weather, so she hadn't been expecting this one bit. She had no rain jacket or umbrella, so she had no choice but to pull her jacket over her head and dash through the rain to her bus stop.

And, of course, when she got there, she noticed her phone was missing. She swore and felt around her pockets for it just as the bus came around. She stared at the bus in consideration, knowing that another one wouldn't be around for another hour, but she needed her phone. Her parents would kill her if she lost it. She swore again and rushed back out into the rain. She must have left it in the café. It took her a solid five minutes in the pouring rain to run back there, completely drenched, only to remember that she'd locked the doors and had now way to get back in. She cursed again in kicked the door to vent her frustration.

Then, she saw it in the corner of her eye, lying in a puddle. Her phone. Neru let out another choice word and scrambled over to it, soaking her knees as she kneeled to pick it up. She tried to turn it on, but it didn't work. She cursed again. Her stupid phone was broken. She glared up at the sky and stuffed the phone in her pocket before going and hiding in the bus shelter as it poured around her while she waited an entire hour for the next bus to come around.

"And that is why my life sucks," Neru announced to her friend Haku at lunch the next day as school. "I'm never going to make enough money to pay for a new phone."

"Poor Neru," said Haku sympathetically. "I feel so bad for you."

"And, on top of that, now my business project is late, so I'm losing ten percent on it, and then twenty percent if I don't hand it in tomorrow," Neru complained. "Why does my life suck so much?"

"I don't know," Haku replied. "I'm sure there's a reason for all this."

Neru snorted skeptically. "Sure, if that reason is forcing me to update to a new phone, or for me to fail school so I can just become a housewife like my mother wants, or for me to quit working at that freaking café. All the guys who come in there are creeps and freaks, anyway. Seriously, Haku, it's like they think I'm some kind of stripper."

"Well, you _are_ dressed in rather suggestive outfits, Neru."

"That's the stupid owner's fault! He's the creepiest and the freakiest of all! Seriously, we all hide whenever he comes by. He comes just to check us out in his newest outfit, and we all know it."

"Well then quit," Haku suggested.

"I would, trust me, I would," said Neru fervently. Then, she sighed. "But it's the only place I can work without worrying about being caught. Having a job's against the school rules, but, if I catch a teacher in there, I've got some good blackmail." Neru smirked.

Haku laughed. "You're terrible, Neru!"

"I am," agreed Neru. "But it works. I've already had a chance to test it."

Haku's eyes widened with excitement, and the leaned across the lunch table toward Neru. "Oh my gosh, who?"

Neru put a finger to her lips and said, "It's a secret."

Haku pouted and slid back to her side of the table. "You're such a tease, Neru."

Neru shrugged and smiled. "It's my job."

Haku rolled her eyes. "Well, anyway, if you need money fast, I know a way you can do it."

Neru narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "This sounds sketchy."

Haku shook her head. "Not at all. It's completely legal."

Neru stared at her for a moment in consideration. "Okay, I'm listening," she decided. She did need money, and fast. What could be lost in at least listening to what Haku had to say?

"Well, it's called the Vocaloid program," said Haku. "All you do it loan your voice to them."

"Loan your voice?" Neru repeated. "This _does_ sound sketchy."

Haku pursed her lips in contemplation. "Okay, that's not the best way to describe it. It's like, they record your voice, and then they put it into this machine or something to give a voice to a robot. You gotta sing, too, and you have a pretty voice, Neru."

"When have you heard me sing?" Neru asked suspiciously.

Haku winked at her. "I've seen your performances at work."

Neru's face went red and she shouted, "You perv! What were you doing in a place like that?"

. . .

Neru stood awkwardly in a white waiting room for the Vocaloid program. She'd already filled out all her information, now she was just waiting to be called in. There were only a couple other people in here, and they actually looked kind of sketchy, which was only making her more uncomfortable. At least she'd come in first, so she'd be called in before them.

"Akita Neru?" came a voice.

Neru rushed to the voice immediately, following a primly-dressed man down a medical-looking hallway into a door labelled "Dr. Kasane". Neru entered cautiously and was met by . . . .

"An elementary student?" Neru said in disbelief.

The little girl with twin drills on either side of her head snapped, "No I'm not, I'm thirty-one years old, little missy."

Neru raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm not sure I'd even believe you were half that age."

The red-haired girl, Kasane Teto according to her name tag, exploded, bouncing on the walls, "I am too! I'm thirty-one years old! I went to college _and_ university! I'm certified doctor! I'm older and wiser than you are and always will be!"

Neru smirked. "You're not helping prove your point by acting like a little kid."

Dr. Kasane glared at her and said, "I don't care what you say because I'm more mature than you!"

Neru rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say. Can we get this over with? I have other things to do with my time."

Dr. Kasane scowled. "We'll hurry up, but only because I want you out of here."

Neru stuck her tongue out at Dr. Kasane, who returned the gesture. Other than dealing with the little brat, the entire procedure was painless, other than how excruciatingly long it was. They had to record her saying all the characters in the Japanese alphabet, portraying different emotions or using different intonations and a whole bunch of other junk. It ended up taking over Neru's entire day, but, at the end, she had enough money to get a replacement cell phone, so it was all worthwhile. It was all over with now. Or, she thought it was.

. . .

"What. The hell?"

When Neru returned home after school and work one Saturday a few weeks later, a girl sat, sleeping, on her doorstep. Neru stared at her, wondering why she was just sitting there. If she was here to see Neru's parents, why didn't she just knock on the door? Neru's mother stayed home all day, so she would have answered had the girl knocked.

Neru nudged the girl with her foot, gently at first, but she grew annoyed when the girl didn't stir and jabbed her sharply instead. The girl jumped up, suddenly wide awake, and looked at Neru in shock.

"Akita Neru?" said the girl in a voice that sounded vaguely familiar.

"Yeah," said Neru. "What's it to ya?"

The girl smiled brightly and immediately hugged Neru. Neru stiffened. She wasn't really one for open displays of affection, or physical contact for that matter. The girl didn't notice her tension and just exclaimed, "I'm Kagamine Rin, your Vocaloid!"

"My _what_?" Neru questioned.

"Your Vocaloid! I'm the Vocaloid that received your voice!"

Neru had no idea what was going on, so, for starters, she pushed Rin away and said, "Okay, first of all, don't _ever_ do that again. Second, what the heck do you mean my Vocaloid? I gave my voice, yes, but that doesn't mean I want a Vocaloid. What the heck is a Vocaloid, anyway? I thought it was a robot."

Rin giggled. "It is."

Neru blinked at her, disbelieving. "So, you're telling me you're a robot?"

Rin nodded. "That's right."

Neru stared at her blankly. "Are you joking?"

"Nope."

"You're a robot."

"Yep."

"And you have my voice?"

"Yep."

Neru rubbed the back of her neck, trying not to over think this for fear of what it might do to her head, and said, "So, um, did you just come here to say thanks?"

Rin frowned a little. "Well, I guess, but I also came here to live."

Neru couldn't believe her ears. She gaped at Rin. "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

Rin smiled, looking troubled. "No, I'm not. Didn't Dr. Kasane explain all this to you?"

"The little kid playing dress up? That twerp told me nothing." Neru groaned. "Okay, you know what, we're going to see that brat."

"Me too?" Rin asked eagerly.

Neru stared at her for a moment, a little startled at the excitement in the girl's eyes. She was a robot, right? How could a robot look so excited? In fact, she looked kind of . . . cute. Neru shook her head, chasing the thought away and said, "Of course you too. How else am I gonna get rid of you?"

"Get rid of me?"

Neru flinched, again stunned by how realistic the robot's emotions were. Still, Neru had to remember, she was just a robot, not a real person. And Neru didn't have the time to deal with some weird high-tech robot.

"Yes, get rid of you. I don't have the time or energy to care for a robot."

The Vocaloid pouted at her. "I can take care of myself."

Neru laughed. "Yeah right. What if you have some circuit break or something?"

"Well, maybe I'd need help then, but I swear I won't be much trouble. I know a lot about how people interact and stuff."

"No offense, Rin, but you look like a twelve-year-old, and, even if you know how to live as a twelve-year-old, you'd still be lost in highschool."

"I get to go to school with you?" Rin asked excitedly, her eyes sparkling on her youthful face. Neru was still being freaked out by how realistic the robot was.

"No, you don't," she replied. "I'm returning you, now, so let's go."

"But then how am I going to see if my voice box works?" Rin asked. The genuine panic in the robot's voice made Neru freeze. She turned back to the robot and saw her staring at Neru with such an expression that Neru was afraid she might cry, even if she was a robot. Neru stared back at her for a little bit. Then, she spoke.

"What does taking care of you entail?" she asked carefully.

Rin beamed at her and chittered, "Not much, really! You just need to talk to me and have me talk to people so that we can check if my voice bank has all the required phonemes! Oh, and we have to make sure it can properly express emotions!"

Neru laughed. "Well, you've got the emotions down."

Rin smiled. "So I can stay?"

Neru stared at the little Vocaloid for a moment, contemplating. Could she really afford to waste time with a robot? She was busy enough as it was, and she had entrance exams for college coming up soon. Along with work, she wasn't left much spare time. Besides, how could she explain this to her parents? But Rin was staring at her with those big eyes, and Neru felt her heart melt a little at the cuteness. Of course, she'd never let on that she thought that. Instead, she groaned, "Fine."

"Yay!" cried Rin, immediately hugging Neru. Neru grew stiff and pushed her away with a glare. Rin smiled sheepishly and said, "Oops, I forgot."

"Mm hm," was all Neru said as she unlocked the door to her house.

. . .

"Hey, Neru, what does this mean?" Rin asked, peering over Neru should and pointing at a phrase in the textbook Neru was reading.

Neru's face went red despite herself. She always found herself growing red around Rin nowadays. The Vocaloid had been living with her for over a month now and even accompanied her to school, though she herself didn't take any lessons. She also had started working at the café where Neru worked, which only made it worse. Seeing Rin in that outfit always made Neru's face become the colour of Dr. Kasane's hair. Neru had no idea why she blushed so much with Rin. After all, Rin was a robot, albeit a realistic one, but still a robot. She couldn't go having feelings for a _robot_.

"It's English," Neru replied. "That's why the letters are weird."

"What does it say?" Rin questioned curiously, leaning forward and pressing against Neru's back. The girl's short, blonde hair tickled Neru's shoulder.

"Mary is buying shoes," Neru replied, looking at the girl curiously, wondering how the girl would react. Rin face contorted in concentration.

"Maerii ishu biiyingu shuzu?" she tried.

Neru tried not to laugh, but she couldn't help it. She erupted into a fit of laughter at the failed pronunciation as Rin stared at her, embarrassed and a little frustrated. She tried again, only to reap the same results, which only made Neru laugh more. Rin pouted at her, which just made her look adorable.

"My voice box isn't working right, that's all," Rin pouted, turning her head away.

"No, Rin, your voice box just can't handle English," Neru laughed. "They never had me speak in English when I was making your voice box."

Rin was still pouting. "That's no fair. I want to speak English, too."

"Come on, Rin, it's not all that great."

"But if Neru's speaking English, Rin wants to, too!" Rin insisted, a hint of childishness in her voice.

Neru stared at her, wondering if the girl was serious. As far as she could tell, she was. Neru laughed at her and said, "Well, that's not gonna happen, so you might as well give up on it."

Rin sighed, an odd sadness in her eyes. Neru was startled by the expression. Rin looked so serious. "You're right," she said ruefully. "I'm being selfish."

Neru couldn't anything to that, so, instead, she turned back to her book and picked up her pen. She lifted it up and showed in to Rin, "Pen."

"I know that's a pen," Rin said.

Neru smiled. "There. You just spoke English. Pen is the same in English and Japanese."

Rin smiled brightly, sitting in front of Neru and looking at her excitedly. "Really?"

"Really."

"What else can you teach me?"

Neru then proceeded to have Rin help her memorize Japanese words that she had to know for the test tomorrow. Rin seemed to have forgotten the English for the moment, but that didn't stop Neru from being haunted by Rin's earlier expression. So, the next day, in study hall, instead of studying for her test the next period, Neru spent the entire time writing down all the English phonemes she could think of.

. . .

"How'd you do on your test, Neru?" Rin asked her when Neru came home with the test.

Neru laughed. "I failed."

"Oh no!" Rin exclaimed. "That's awful! We need to start studying for the next one right away!"

"Mm, I have somewhere I want to go first," Neru replied.

"Where?" Rin asked, titling her head curiously.

"Just somewhere," Neru said cryptically.

. . .

"Neru?"

Dr. Kasane stared at the yellow-haired girl in utter shock, alarmed that Neru had actually come without being asked.

"I have a request," Neru said.

"Oh, don't worry, you're job is done now," said Dr. Kasane with a smile. "I know, I should have warned you about the second part of the job, but you'll get a big bonus for this. Thank you very much."

"What are you talking about?" Neru asked, frozen. Her job was done? They couldn't possibly mean that–

"Rin's voice box is working perfectly. We'll be taking her back now."

Neru stared at her, disbelieving. No. They couldn't take Rin away. Not yet. Not when Neru had become so close to her. Not when Neru had come here so that she could make Rin happy, so that she could record an English voice box for the girl.

"But she's—" Neru started.

"She's absolutely perfect, Neru, thank you for all your work. We've already gone and retrieved her from your home. You don't have to worry about her any longer."

Neru stared at Dr. Kasane, no believing her ears. They'd taken her? They'd taken Rin? "B-but, I didn't get to say goodbye."

Dr. Kasane raised startled eyebrows at her. "Say goodbye? Neru, you remember she's a robot, right?"

Neru froze. Right. Rin was a robot. Rin didn't actually feel any emotions. She didn't actually care whether she was with Neru or not. So Neru forced a laugh. "Right. But, um, what happens to her now?"

"Oh, we just do some tweaks, see what worked and what didn't, then we introduce her to the other Vocaloids."

"Will I see her again?" Neru asked hopefully. Her heart plummeted when Dr. Kasane shook her head.

"No, Neru. Vocaloids are too fragile. We have to keep a close eye on them or they might get hurt. Anyway, she won't even be in the country after a couple of weeks."

Neru felt her heart falling lower and lower. She'd never see Rin again. But, even though Rin was just a robot, she wanted to see her everyday, to light that smile on her face. She wanted to tell Rin that she loved her.

But, now, there was only one last thing she could do to make Rin happy. "Can I record an English voice box for her?" Neru asked.

"English?" Dr. Kasane questioned. "Well, I suppose so, but we don't have time to test it. You'd have to ensure that you get it right the first time."

Neru nodded. "Of course. Just promise me you'll give her this voice box."

"Certainly."

Neru smiled sadly. "Okay. Let's do this."

. . .

Dr. Kasane was right. Over two years had passed, and Neru had never seen Rin again. She'd never heard another word about Vocaloids. Instead, she continued living life like before, working a stupid job, spending all her time studying, and eventually getting into the college she wanted and then spending even more time studying. She'd had a few dates here and there but, overall, she didn't have the time or energy to deal with anyone.

It was pouring rain when Neru left work at the café, and, of course, she'd been stuck closing again, so it was pitch black out, other than all the illuminated ads everywhere. Someone had stolen her umbrella, and she hadn't bothered to bring a coat, so pulling her sweater over her head was the only thing she could do to protect herself as the rain crashed down onto her. She cursed as a bus ran by her, warning her that she'd missed the bus and would have to wait a while for the next. She began to plow through puddles when she heard a voice so quiet that she could hardly hear it over the rain.

"Neru."

Neru stopped and looked to the voice, ready to give it a piece of her mind. She froze when she saw who it was. Rin, only a little taller, with her short blonde hair and big blue eyes, stood there in the rain, staring at her, with a sad smile on her face. She didn't seem to expect Neru to recognize her, but Neru did.

"Rin," she whispered. Then, she ran over to the girl. Her first instinct was to hug her, but, instead, she pulled off her jacket and held it over Rin's head. "What are you doing, Rin? You're going to short-circuit."

"_Thank you so very much._"

Neru froze. Those words that Rin spoke, they weren't Japanese. Neru stared down at Rin, who smiled at her delicately.

"It means 'thank you' in English," Rin said. "I got the voice box. It was perfect. _Thank you so very much_, Neru."

Neru smiled, unable to stop some tears from rolling down her face. "I'm so happy," she told her. "I'm glad it worked."

"Neru, do you know what a Vocaloid is?" Rin questioned.

"Of course," Neru replied. "Now we have to get you out of the rain, Rin."

"A Vocaloid is a voice box," Rin continued, ignoring Neru's comment. "It's when someone gives their voice over, and then their voice is altered to make a voice box that is then used on a robot. The voice box is tested on a robot, but the robot doesn't keep it. After all, it's just a robot. It doesn't need it."

"Did they try to take my voice from you?" Neru questioned in disbelief. "Did you run away? Is that why you're here?"

But Rin was shaking her head. "When the voice box is proved functional, it is given to someone else. It is given to the human whom the robot was designed after. A surgery is performed and, through the use of nanotechnology, someone who was once mute can now speak." Rin smiled at Neru. "I was mute for fourteen years, Neru. It was so hard. I could never answer people fast enough, and I hated making them wait around for me to write down my answer. But, then, you gave your voice to the Vocaloid program. They had me control the robot so that I could get used to the voice. Then, Neru, because of you, they gave me a voice. I can finally speak, because of you. I just . . . I just had to thank you."

"So, you're not a robot?" Neru questioned, struggling to wrap her head around the entire thing. Rin shook her head. "But that time I spent with the robot, that was you, right?" Rin nodded. "So is it okay for me to do this?"

Neru dropped her sweater, not caring as if fell into filthy puddles, and grabbed Rin by the shoulders. As rain poured all around them, Neru stooped down and kissed the smaller girl, as she'd wanted to do all this time. When she pulled away, Rin was crying, but she smiled.

"Yes," Rin said. "That's okay." She smiled. "Neru, may I live with you again? Otherwise, I have to go back home, back to England. That's where I live. My mother is English, but my dad is Japanese. We didn't think Vocaloid existed in English, so I've only ever been taught Japanese. I guess an English Vocaloid actually didn't before you made that voice box for me."

"Don't you . . . want to be with your parents?" Neru questioned, too overwhelmed to say anything else.

"Of course I do, Neru, but I want to be with you more. You gave me everything. That's why I came here as soon as I recovered, so I could thank you, and so that I could tell you that I love you."

"I love you too, Rin," Neru murmured.

"Then can I stay by your side?"

"Of course you can, Rin." She smiled. "You're my Vocaloid, after all."

**Author's Note: I really like this story, so I hope you guys did too :) So, this was for OtakuGirl347, who requested the pairing of Rin and Neru. I wanted to put a sort of twist on the whole Vocaloid concept, and it worked out even better to have Neru, who has no voice bank, so that she could be like a regular girl. Oh, yeah, the part of Rin trying to speak English with a Japanese voice box is because I was looking at my Japanese textbook and they had that sentence so I felt like pronouncing it with katakana. And, yes, pen is pen in Japanese. I take classes, so I know that. So, anyway, please review!**


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